USA > Michigan > Kent County > Grand Rapids > Grand Rapids and Kent County, Michigan: History and Account of Their Progress from First. Vol. I > Part 33
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There are several lakes on the east side of the river. There is a lake, known as Campau Lake, on Sections 1, 2, 11, and 12, about one mile long and from eighty to 160 rods in width. The shore on the southeast side is sandy and on the northwest side mucky and marshy. Barber's Lake is on the line of Sections 25 and 26. Tobey's Lake is on Section 23. Buck Lake is on Section 12. Coldwater River enters the township on Section 36 and empties into Thornapple River on Section 35. The west side of Thornapple River was all "timbered lands," producing all of the kinds of timber that usually grow in this region on such lands. The surface of most of this part of the town is high and somewhat rolling, with a clayey loam soil that is well adapted to all kinds of farming purposes, especially to grazing. All kinds of fruits grow almost to perfection on this soil. There are a great many fine farms in this township.
Caledonia was organized as a separate township in 1840, from territory originally included in the township of Ada, and the definite boundaries then provided by the State legislature have never been modified or changed. The first election for township officers was held at the dwelling house of John P. McNaughton, May 4, 1840, with Justus G. Beach as moderator and Malcolm McNaughton as clerk, and resulted in the selection of the following named persons: John P. McNaughton, supervisor ; Justus G. Beach, clerk; Roswell F. Tyler, Malcolm P. McNaughton, and John A. Campbell, assessors; Roswell F. Tyler, collector ; Roswell Tyler and John Campbell, directors of the poor ; Asahel Tyler, Asahel Kent, and Norman Foster, commissioners of highways; Roswell F. Tyler and Frederick B. Thompson,. con- stables ; Justus G. Beach, Loren B. Tyler, Malcolm P. McNaughton, and Asahel Kent, justices of the peace; Norman Foster, treasurer ; Norman Foster and William G. Wooley, school inspectors. The record does not state the number of votes polled at the township meet- ing. It was voted to raise $100 to defray township expenses for the year 1841-2, and also that the pay of township officers should be $1 for each day's service.
When the first white man visited the township of Caledonia it was an unbroken wilderness, inhabited only by the red men and their dusky families. The only roads were the trails made by the Indians in going from lake to lake, and around their borders. These trails in many places were a foot in depth, and not much more than a foot in width. The only houses were their wigwams, built on the banks of the beautiful lakes in summer, and in the thick wood in winter, and thus the inmates were protected from the cold.
The first piece of land bought of the Government in this township was a portion of Section 3, by William H. Brown, June 16, 1835, and the next tract was taken up by Benjamin H. Silsbee, on July 8, 1835, and was a portion of Section 35.
William H. Brown was born in Warwick, Kent county, Rhode Island, in the year 1810. In early manhood he went with his parents
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to Genesee county, New York, and at a very early day in the history of Western Michigan came to Thornapple, Barry county, and entered 100 acres of land. Becoming dissatisfied, he hired an Indian chief to take him down Thornapple river on a prospecting tour, with the result that he selected the tract of land which was so long his home in Cale- donia township. In 1853 he built a grist-mill at Alaska and operated it for a number of years. In 1868 he erected a flouring mill at Cale- donia Center, now known as La Barge, its construction costing him $14,000, and he also built a saw-mill at that place. He built two saw- mills at Alaska soon after his settlement there. The original name of the town was Brownsville, and it was founded and settled by Mr. Brown. He was one of the organizers of the Baptist church at that place and was deacon at the time of his death, which occurred Oct. 14, 1877, after a period of protracted illness.
Asahel Kent was the first settler in the township, settling on Sec- tion 35, in 1838. Mr. Kent, and after his death Mrs. Kent, kept a public house, or tavern, as the inns or hotels of those days were com- monly called, which became famous for its good cheer all over the surrounding country. A gentleman who lived at that time in New York State, was wont to tell that he used to hear people who had been in the Grand River Valley tell about "Kent's Tavern," and when one would return, others who had traveled on this route-the "Gull Trail" -would always enquire about the Kents. Mrs. Kent afterward mar- ried Peter McNaughton, and the place became equally well known to travelers on the Battle Creek and Grand Rapids stage route as McNaughton's. There are some reminiscences of this stage route which Edward Campau related that at this time will help contrast the mode of traveling in those days with that of the present. Mr. Campau related that in 1839, as a boy of 14 years, he made the journey with three or four others from Grand Rapids to Detroit, and that they stopped at "Kent's" over night, and that he with others of the men had to sleep out in a sort of shed, as the house was so small it would not accommodate them. At this time this was the only house from Ada to "Leonard's," a distance of seventeen miles. About two years after this he commenced to drive stage on this route and drove for several years. The road at this time wound around through the woods and it was no uncommon thing to get "stuck" in the mud or to "tip over." At one time, a very dark, stormy night, an axletree was broken about six miles south of Ada, and the passengers, five or six in num- ber, were compelled to walk through mud and snow to that place, as it was the nearest settlement. At another time, Hon. John Ball, Mrs. Thomas B. Church, and others were in the stage, when they tipped over in a mud-hole and the passengers were all dumped in the water. It was quite dark and Mrs. Church's son, Fred S., who after- wards became the well known New York artist, but who then was an infant, was nearly suffocated before they found him. At another time Hon. William A. Richmond and Hon. Harvey P. Yale were his only passengers, and the roads were muddy and badly rutted, and the night was dark. Mr. Yale fell asleep and the wheel, dropping into a deep rut, pitched him out into the mud. After a hearty laugh he resumed his place and they continued their journey. There is a
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great contrast between travel over that route, as it was in those days, and on the well piked roads of today with a Twentieth century auto- mobile !
But to go back to the settlement of Caledonia: James Minsey settled on Section 36 in 1838 or 1839. Among the earlier settlers were Orsemus Rathbun, Eber Moffitt, Hiram McNiel, Peter McNaughton, Levi Tobey, John Sinclair, O. P. Barber, John Pattison, Henry Jack- son, and Warren S. Hale.
Edward Campau, heretofore mentioned as the youthful stage driver, was also a pioneer settler in Caledonia. He was born in Detroit, May 9, 1825. His parents removed to Grosse Point, on Lake St. Clair, when he was five years old, and there, in 1838, his mother died and he soon afterward came to Grand Rapids, where he lived three years with his Aunt Supernant and his uncle Louis Moran. In the spring of 1842, in company with his cousin, Antoine Campau, he set out on a trading expedition among the Indians on the Grand river and its tributaries, exhibiting in this enterprise the inherent traits which so strongly characterize the Campau family. On his return he entered the employ of Canton Smith, proprietor of the old National Hotel, as porter and chore-boy, at $8 per month. In De- cember following he obtained a position as stage driver on the old Grand Rapids & Kalamazoo stage route, and continued that employ- ment four years, receiving $10 and $12 a month. He then engaged with William H. Withey in the same capacity and remained until the line was transferred to the plank road. At the close of his stage driving career, in 1855, he purchased sixty-three acres of land in Sec- tion 11, Caledonia township, and began his career as a pioneer farmer, experiencing all the effort and hardship necessary to convert the wilderness into blooming, productive fields.
O. B. Barber was born in Auburn, N. Y., Nov. 8, 1820. He was reared on a farm and educated in the common school. In 1838 he went to Galesburg, Ill., and two years later to Macoupin County, that State, where he remained until February, 1849, coming then to Caledonia, where he purchased a farm of 114 acres in Section 26, on the old Battle Creek & Grand Rapids stage route, then the sole thoroughfare of the forest. Soon after his settlement here he was elected assessor and highway commissioner, and afterward officiated as township treas- urer one year, drain commissioner five years, and justice of the peace sixteen years. He was appointed postmaster at Caledonia, in 1861, and retained the position eighteen years.
Lyman Gerould was the first settler on the west side of Thorn- apple River.
Among the incidents connected with the early settlement of the township, showing some of the hardships the pioneers had to endure, the following is related: William H. Brown, previous to his settle- ment at Brownsville, now called Alaska, but after he located his land, lived at "Scale's Prairie," or Middleville. Having occasion to go there one winter he started from home in the morning on horseback, in- tending to return the same day. After making his observations and examining his land about where the village of Alaska now stands, he started for home. Night soon came on, and after endeavoring to follow his track for a while he found out that he was lost. He dis- mounted, and as he had nothing to kindle a fire with, cleared the snow
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out of a path with his feet and some bark from a dry tree, and walked forwards and backwards in it all night. When morning came he mounted his horse and after riding for some time came out at the Green Lake House. His friends had started after him in the morn- ing, expecting to find him frozen to death, and they followed his tracks until they found him at Green Lake, in Allegan County, nearly a dozen miles from his home.
At the mouth of Coldwater river was a great Indian camping ground and burial place. The Indians did not leave there entirely until a comparatively recent date. One of them, old Soh-na-go, or "Squirrel," was seen at quite a late day visiting the burial place and the hunting grounds of his fathers, but the "white man's axe" had been there and it was no longer a home for him.
Nestled among the hills on the banks of the Thornapple river, in the northern part of the township, is what was once the thriving lit- tle village of Alaska, formerly known as North Brownsville. It has a very pleasant location and was an active, enterprising place and center of an extensive trade until the railroads, passing on each side of it and building up rival towns, gave it a quietus. It now has but one general store and a grocery store. The site possesses one of the finest mill privileges there is on Thornapple river, and if circumstances had been more favorable it doubtless would have continued to be the loca- tion of a thriving and growing village.
Caledonia, situated on Section 29, is a prosperous village of 600 people. It was settled in 1850, the first plat was made in 1870, and it reached the dignity of an incorporated municipality in 1888. It is situated on the Michigan Central railroad and hence has good shipping facilities which make it the center of trade for a wide ex- tent of fertile country. It has one Methodist and two United Breth- ren churches, a bank, and a weekly newspaper, the News, and the requisite number of mercantile establishments and general industries.
The township of Caledonia is one of the best agricultural dis- tricts in Kent county, and the thrifty farmers are profitably engaged in all classes of diversified farming. Considerable attention is given to the raising of fine stock, and some are buyers and shippers of the same. A very large portion of the grain raised is fed to stock on the farms. There are many fine homes in the township, an evidence of thrift and prosperity, and a great change has been brought about in the seventy-nine years since the first log cabin was built-the first move from savage to civilized life. The log cabins have gone and beautiful structures have taken their places.
Below is given a list of the supervisors of the township from its organization down to the present time: 1840, John P. McNaughton; 1842, Norman Foster; 1844, Roswell F. Tyler and William Gibson; 1845, John A. Cornell; 1846, Justus G. Beach ; 1848, Reuben H. Smith ; 1849, William H. Brown; 1854, Lyman Gerould; 1857, Zabin Wil- liams ; 1858, William H. Brown; 1860, Warren S. Hale; 1861, Wil- liam H. Brown ; 1863, William J. Wood; 1865, Adam B. Sherk; 1868, William J. Wood; 1869, Marcus Buell; 1870, Adam B. Sherk; 1871, Robert S. Jackson; 1872, William J. Wood; 1873, Martin Whitney ; 1877, Austin W. Hill; 1878, Marcus Buell; 1879, Sherman T. Colson ; 1889, Alfred W. Stow ; 1891, Sherman T. Colson ; 1895, Eugene Ward ; 1900, Joseph E. Kennedy; 1901, Alfred Newman; 1904, Eugene
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Ward; 1906, Alfred Newman; 1907, Frederick W. Ruehs ; 1912, Mer- rill M. Kriger ; 1914, John J. Luneke; 1915, Charles R. Mulder, pres- ent incumbent.
William J. Wood was born in Cayuga county, New York, Nov. 5, 1818. He lived on a farm until he was seventeen years of age, when he learned the joiner's trade and worked at it thirty-one years. The family removed to Livingston county, New York, when he was ten years old, and in April, 1857, he came to Caledonia township and settled on Section 24. He engaged in clearing and improving his land and interested himself in aiding and comforting his pioneer neighbors. It fell to his lot to help most when death made havoc among the settlers, and he provided the community with coffins at the bare expense of the material, without charge for time or labor. In 1863 and 1864 he was a member of the Board of Supervisors and during that time had charge of the families of thirty-one soldiers. He also served as supervisor in 1868 and again in 1872.
Marcus Buell was born in Angelica, Allegany county, New York, April 19, 1829. He learned the trade of carpenter and joiner, at which he worked nine years. He enlisted in the civil conflict, Aug. 17, 1861, in Company A, Ninth Michigan Infantry, and was on duty in the detached brigade of the Army of the Cumberland. He was in the battles of Chattanooga and Murfreesboro, and at the last named place, on July 13, 1862, received five bullet wounds. He spent some time in Hospital No. 8, and was transferred thence to Camp Chase, receiving his honorable discharge, Aug. 7, 1862, when he returned to Romeo, Mich., where he had settled in 1852. He came to Caledonia, locating on eighty acres in Section 11, in April, 1867.
Joseph E. Kennedy was born in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, April 11, 1864, and was three years of age when his parents came to Gaines township, Kent county, and settled on a farm in the woods, with a log shanty as their first habitation. He remained with his parents until nineteen years old and then made a trip through Mis- souri, Kansas, and other States. In February, 1886, he began the hardware trade in Grand Rapids, built a store in Caledonia the same year, and moved to it in November, 1886. He built the large brick block, with its public hall, in Caledonia village, besides many resi- dences. A Democrat in politics, Mr. Kennedy served as township treasurer of Caledonia, and in 1898 was a candidate for sheriff of the county, running ahead of his ticket 2,700 votes, but he was defeated in the general landslide of that year. In 1900 he served as Super- visor for Caledonia township.
CHAPTER XVIII. CANNON TOWNSHIP
SOIL AND PRODUCTION-EARLY SETTLERS-ORIGIN OF NAME-ORGAN- IZATION AND FIRST OFFICIALS-JARED S. SPRING-CANNONSBURG -CHAUNCEY-LAKES-PROSPECT HILL-LIST OF SUPERVISORS.
The prevailing soil of Cannon township is deep and pliable. Crops, in quality and yield, compare favorably with any of the other townships. The railroad facilities consist of the Grand Rapids & Indiana railroad, which passes near its northwestern corner, and a
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nearby station in Algoma and Plainfield townships-Rockford. The township presents a great variety of surface, soil and productions, being quite hilly and broken along Bear creek and in the vicinity of Grand river, but in other parts, more gently rolling or beautifully undulating scenery meets the view. In the southern part there are patches of beech and maple timber land, with a sprinkling of pine along the streams, but mainly the town was originally oak openings, plentifully interspersed with hickory. Its main staples raised for the market are wheat, wool, corn, and apples. Of the first named, large quantities have been exported, and its rolling lands and dry, healthful climate make its wool growing a success. Lying within the great western fruit belt, it is eminently adapted to horticultural pursuits. Of this its people are fully aware and many flourishing orchards are found. Apples, pears, peaches, cherries, and currants abound, while grapes and the small fruits are specialties. Whatever may be said of its business centers, thrift and enterprise mark this rural district. Comfort smiles from its tasteful dwellings, nestled amid shade and bloom, and an abounding plenty peeps from its well filled and commodious barns. Indigence is scarcely known among its population. All are, to a remarkable degree, independent in worldly goods.
One of the earliest settlers was Andrew Watson, who moved into the township with his family, accompanied by A. D. W. Stout and family, and settled on Section 30. The first entry of land was made by James S. Potter, in Section 30, on July 15, 1835, but he did not become a permanent settler. In 1838 came Isaac Tomlinson, Sr., locat- ing upon Section 27 in a beautiful situation commanding an extensive and enchanting view of Grand river and its beautiful valley. In 1839 William M. Miller settled upon Section 19. Steadily now a tide of immigration set in, rolling the wilderness back by the sturdy energy of the hardy and determined pioneer, swiftly multiplying farms and broadening cleared areas. Prominent among the newcomers, in 1841, were James Thomas, on Section 20, Oliver Lovejoy, on Section 7, Zebulon Rood and Rev. Mr. Frieze, on Section 19, the last named being the first minister of the Gospel to take up his residence within the township.
James Thomas was born in Northumberland county, Pennsyl- vania, Jan. 1, 1814. His mother died when he was four years old and he was bound to Joseph R. Priestly. Their affairs were managed by the outside jury-the neighbors-and Mr. Thomas lived to regret the severing of his relations with his real friend, Mr. Priestly. He learned the blacksmith's trade and after six months went home and commenced working on a canal. He was taken ill, and after recov- ery went to boating, working hard and saving nothing, going to school in the winter and doing chores to pay his way. In 1834 he came to Michigan, and in 1841 settled on Section 20, the southwest eighty acres, and in 1865 sold this tract to his son and purchased on Section 27. In 1867 he purchased a blacksmith shop. Mr. Thomas was the fifth settler in the township, and his experiences with Indians and pioneer life rank with the "oft told tale."
Zebulon Rood was born in Vermont, July 29, 1810. In 1823, with his parents, he came to Oakland county, Michigan, and there
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remained until he was of age. He worked at the carpenter's trade three years and conducted a grocery in Birmingham two years. In 1838 he came to Cannon township and pre-empted land in Section 31, . and subsequently purchased 240 acres on Sections 20 and 29. He cut the first road in Cannon and brought the first team and first wagon- load of goods across Bear creek. He built the first house in Cannon, and it was a log structure. He did the first clearing and planted the first crops. In fact, Mr. Rood broke the forest and led the tide of immigration in among the race of savages to make the now pros- perous township of Cannon. He organized the first school district and helped build the first school house. He located all the roads in that portion of the township and aided in all its first improvements. In early days he served in the various local offices of the township.
Among the early settlers who bore a conspicuous part in the development and organization of the new township, honorable men- tion should be made of M. A. Patrick, locating on Section 26, and Ebenezer C. Smith, on Section 12, in 1844. About the same time Samuel Steel located five lots for as many sons, in the near vicinity of Mr. Smith, thus fixing the name of Steel's Corners to a most beautiful and productive part of the township. Mrs. John Hartwell, on Section 34, and Demas Hine, on Section 30, were settlers of 1845, and James Dockeray, on Section 4, settled in 1846.
Demas Hine was born in Connecticut, in August, 1804, and was reared a farmer. Later he became a physician of some prominence, came to Cannon township in 1845, and practiced his profession there until his death, April 25, 1872. He was one of the earliest, if not actually the first, physician to locate in Cannon township.
The township was named at the time of its organization, in 1846, in honor of its principal village, or rather the promoter of that village-LeGrand Cannon, an Eastern capitalist. In 1845 a separ- ation from Plainfield was effected and the township was erected into a separate town under the name, by a mistake in the legislature, of Churchtown. The first town meeting, to complete the organization of the township, was held on the first Monday of April, 1846, at the house of C. Slaght, in Cannonsburg. The whole number of votes cast was sixty-four, and the following gentlemen were selected as the first township officers: Supervisor, Andrew Watson; clerk, Henry H. Worden ; treasurer, Lewis D. Dean ; school inspectors, Loyal Palmer and M. A. Patrick; directors of the poor, Ebenezer C. Smith and Martin Johnson; commissioners of highways, John Hartwell and Cornelius Wample; justices of the peace, Harlow T. Judson, John Bishop, Demas Hine, and Jared S. Spring ; constables, Robert Howard, Major Worden, Isaac Tomlinson, and Mindrus Whitney.
John Bishop, who was one of the four justices of the peace chosen at this election, was a native of New Hampshire and came, in 1845, to Cannon township, being among the early settlers, and he followed farming during the remainder of an active and useful life. His son, Loomis K. Bishop, became in turn register of deeds and sheriff of Kent county and also served as postmaster at Grand Rapids.
Jared S. Spring, another of these pioneer magistrates, came from Farmersville, Cataraugus county, New York. In the spring of 1845
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he started with his family, consisting of his wife and six sons, their household goods on a wagon, a team of horses and two cows. From Buffalo they took steamboat for Detroit, and there began the strug- gle over the log ways and through the deep sands of Michigan. The cows and a bag of meal furnished sustenance until they reached Can- nonsburg. In Clinton county the horses were exchanged for two yoke of oxen. They purchased a farm, and the family struggled onward through fever and ague and dire necessities until fairer skies appeared and they felt that they were literally "out of the woods." The oldest of these six sturdy sons was Henry Spring, who for years was the king among drygoods merchants of Grand Rapids.
Robert Howard was born in Lincolnshire, England, Oct. 10, 1815. He emigrated to America when a young man of seventeen and landed in New York, his objective point. He came to Michigan soon after its admission as a State and resided in Detroit a number of years. He then came to Cannon township and bought a piece of unimproved land, which presented the aspect of a wilderness. He afterward sold this tract, but repurchased it, and he also secured land in Grattan township, where he afterward made his home.
Bear Creek, the exclusive property of Cannon, rises in the north- east corner of the township, on Section 1, in a large spring, which is claimed by some to have the peculiar power to petrify all substances that may chance to lie in its waters. The creek, fed by springs all its length, takes its devious way south and southwest, cutting the town nearly in halves, and debouching in Grand river on Section 30, the southwest corner of the township. This stream, being fed by springs, presents a never failing supply of water, and, running rapidly, fur- nishes a power that would be excellent for manufacturing purposes.
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